The Voice of the Martyrs' blog, sharing powerful stories and timely information that invites and inspires American Christians into fellowship with their persecuted family around the world.

Posts from May 2011

May 31, 2011

Algeria is one of The Voice of the Martyrs restricted nations, will approximately 97% of the population Muslim and a tiny .29% Christian, so when I see a story like the one mentioned today at The Christian Post, concerning a Christian man being sentenced to five years in prison for sharing his Christian faith, I'm not surprised.

The Christian Post is reporting the following:

A Christian man has been sentenced to five years in prison for sharing his faith with his neighbor. According to International Christian Concern, Siagh Krimo was given the sentence last week in Djamel District, Oran, Algeria.

Prosecutors quickly charged Krimo of proselytizing after his neighbor made a complaint, and accused him of making defamatory statements against the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Krimo was sentenced under Article 144 bis 2 of the Algerian Penal Code which makes it a criminal offence to "insult the prophet" or "denigrate the creed and precepts of Islam."

Aidan Clay, ICC Regional Manager for the Middle East, said: "Algerian Christians have been under attack in recent weeks as laws have been increasingly enforced to discriminate against them.

Please keep Krimo in your prayers, as well as the other brave Christians who are living their faith out in a country that is hostile to them. Thank you.

Earlier this year, on April 21st, we posted a story that suggested that Christians would pay the price for voting in Goodluck Jonathan, who is a Christian, as the President of Nigeria.

Sadly, now The Christian Post is reporting that in Northern Nigeria on Sunday, a bomb went off and killed fifteen people, and injured at least thirty-five more who were near the bombing.

The Christian Post goes on to say,

"The bombing is seen as a challenge to the authority of Jonathan, a Christian from the South, by those who want a Muslim president installed.

Jonathan became president of Nigeria last year when his Muslim predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, died from a long-time medical problem. The Christian politician finished the remaining year of Yar’Adua’s term and was elected in April for another four years.

But Muslims contend that a Muslim president needs to be elected according to the unwritten agreement that presidents will rotate between the country’s Christian south and Muslim north."

Hindu extremists continue to target Christians in India with harassment, false accusations, beatings and even murder. The Global Council of Indian Christians believes Hindu extremists are behind two recent murders of Christians in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the most recent case, 17-year-old Nirupama Pradhan was raped and murdered after school on May 12, 2011. Her father, Sitrian Pradhan, named the possible murderer, but according to Asia News, police have done nothing to find the murderer.

Police also have refused to give a post-mortem report to the widow of Saul Pradhan, a Christian preacher who was murdered on Jan. 10, 2011. Pradhan had taken a new job at a brick kiln in another village. When he did not return home from work one day, his family searched for him and found his body near a pond. Police originally claimed Pradhan died from the “bitter cold,” but his employers, Hindu radicals, later confessed to the murder.

On May 8, Hindu radicals stopped Pastor B. Vijaya Kumar and his family as they walked home from a prayer meeting, according to Compass Direct News. After the extremists detained the family for three hours, police arrived and questioned Kumar. They told the family to leave the area and said they would accept no responsibility if anything happened to them. Earlier, local papers had falsely reported that Kumar had been converting people by offering them money.

Extremists in Madhya Pradesh accused another pastor of forced conversions. Hindu extremists stopped Pastor Shivraj Maravi from renovating his small house, where he sometimes holds Sunday services. After the extremists filed a police report on May 4, police arrested Maravi and charged him with forcible conversion under the state’s anti-conversion act. Compass Direct reported that Maravi stopped working on his house because he feared he would be attacked by extremists.

Hindu extremists in the state of Maharashtra also stopped construction of a church building and imposed a boycott on Christians in the area. When the Christians complained to police, the police told the group to get permission from the village head, who subsequently refused to help them. In the ensuing boycott, the extremist group prohibited Christian vehicles from carrying vegetables to market, cutting off their means of livelihood. The extremists ordered the Christians to leave the village and said they would not allow Christian children to attend the local school.

Every week we strive to encourage you in your walk with the Lord and we do this today by sharing with you a great devotional from the book Extreme Devotion. If you haven't read this book yet, you'll love it. We also offer other devotionals in our The Voice of the Martyrs bookstore.

The imprisoned Christian was hungry and irritated. A lieutenant had come to interrogate him again, and he was in no mood to be questioned. He thought, “Why should I be the one who is always interrogated?”

So he pelted the officer with questions, “Do you believe in God? What will happen to you when you die? How did this beautiful world come into existence?” Eventually, he was able share the complete salvation message with the interested officer. To the prisoner’s surprise, the lieutenant immediately gave his life to Christ!

The officer also gave his lunch to the hungry prisoner. The Christian was thankful that God would feed him and use him, even in his irritable mood.

Another time, this same man was in solitary confinement and, again, particularly hungry. Then he remembered the words of Jesus about rejoicing under persecution because it is a blessing. He immediately got up and started praising God and dancing around his small cell. His rejoicing soon got the guard’s attention.

When the guard checked on him, he was sure the Christian had gone crazy. Guards were instructed to treat the crazy ones kindly, so he brought the Christian some cheese and a loaf of bread.

Once again, God had provided. The thought struck the Christian prisoner, “It is better to be a fool in Christ than to be a ‘wise’ man who is foolishly angry about things that cannot change.”

Many people are “control freaks”—those who need to keep their world under constant control. Unfortunately, there are some things that are beyond anyone’s control. Recognizing which things we can do something about and those things we cannot control is a secret to success. For example, we can’t monitor what others say, but we can choose to pray for those who insult us. Worrying about what is beyond our control is simply human nature. What we can’t control, we try to manipulate. Yet, God says to stop manipulating circumstances and trust in him. Like the prisoner in this story, God reminds us to merely put his Word into action by fully obeying it. He will take care of the rest.

With the Lord always before us . . . our faith will be strong, our hope will be vigorous, our humility will be deep, our penitence will be abiding, our evidences will be satisfactory, and our example will be bright!

Let us, therefore, set the Lord always before us . . . to meditate upon His love, grace, and goodness; to admire His holiness, condescension, and patience; and to commune with Him, as our Friend and loving Father, from day to day.

Then we shall not . . . fear men, dread death, or be alarmed at the convulsions that take place in our world!Our confidence will be strong, our peace will flow like a river, and our righteousness like the waves of the sea.

It is when we take the eye off the Lord, and look into SELF--that . . . our doubts, fears and unbelief, arise and work,Satan gains an advantage over us, and the world fascinates or frightens us!

Let us, therefore, look . . .out of self, away from the world, above our trials--and look simply to Jesus! This is the way to . . . enjoy peace, grow in grace, and abound in every good work.

Let us look away from sin--to Jesus making atonement for it!

Let us look away from guilt on the conscience--to Jesus as bearing the iniquity of our holy things before the Lord!

The pastors of some of China's house churches are facing new restrictions, according to VOM workers. The pastors must provide police with weekly reports detailing their whereabouts and how many people attend their meetings. If pastors travel outside their city, they must report their plans, and they are restricted to short trips. If the pastors fail to report and police are unable to contact them, they are arrested. VOM workers say these regulations primarily target large house churches that organize under a specific name, advertise and meet publicly. House churches, which operate outside the official state church, are illegal under Chinese law. But because of the house church movement's rapid growth in recent years, the government is struggling to deal with these churches. Pray for the house churches in China, especially those that have been targeted by these new regulations, and ask God to grant their leaders wisdom.

Thirty-two Christians in Chiapas, Mexico, say they are ready to return to the community where their neighbors torched their homes and stole their livestock. The group fled the area in January 2010 after being forcibly evicted by a mob of 200. The Christians had been worshiping in a believer's home for almost a year because the same mob had destroyed their church. Members of the community were unhappy that the Christians would not contribute to or participate in religious drinking festivals held in their town. The Christians filed a court case requesting compensation for their burned homes, but they have seen no progress since the government loaned them the use of a large home in another city. The 32 believers have decided they will return to their community on June 15, with or without government help. "It is time to go home," they say, "and win the others to Christ, whatever the cost." Pray for these Christians and others who have been run out of their communities because of their Christian faith.

Azerbaijan--Fines and "Preventative Talks" for Praise ChurchForum 18 News Service

Two Christians from the Praise Church in the city of Sumgait were fined for attending an "illegal" meeting on Sunday, May 15. Elchin and Afar Pashaev were fined $190 under Azerbaijan's Code of Administrative Offenses for attending a religious meeting at a location other than the Praise Church's registered address. About 40 church members had gathered at the "Blue Lake" restaurant for their Sunday meeting, but it was interrupted by the police raid at about 11:30 a.m. "Police wrote down the names of all those present; then all were taken by bus to the police station," a Christian told Forum 18 News. Only Elchin and his wife, Afar, were fined, but the Interior Ministry reported that police conducted "preventative talks" with other church members. In recent years, state control of religious activity has sharply increased in Azerbaijan. Amendments to the religion law in 2009 established penalties for religious activities not specifically authorized by the state. Pray for the church in Azerbaijan.

Eleven Church of Iran members have been acquitted of charges that they committed “activities against the order of the country” and that they illegally drank alcohol. Both charges relate to their involvement in a house church meeting at which they drank Communion wine. The Christians, who were arrested and charged in April, were brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal on May 1 to present their case.

In a mid-May verdict, a judge ruled that the Christians’ actions were protected under the Iranian constitution, which allows some religious minorities, including Christians, to perform their own religious rites and ceremonies. Local authorities have 20 days to appeal the acquittal.

Another member of the Church of Iran, Pastor Yousef Nardarkani, remains in prison after receiving a death sentence for apostasy. Nardarkani, who was arrested for protesting a government decision that would require his son to study the Quran in school, has appealed the death sentence.

Evangelical pastor Vahik Abrahamian also remains in prison in Hamadan, Iran. Abrahamian was accused of propagating Christianity and opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran, among other charges. Three church members, including Abrahamian’s wife, were arrested in September 2010 along with the pastor, but they have since been released.

You can write letters of encouragement to Pastors Abrahamian and Nardarkani and learn more about their cases at www.prisoneralert.com.

May 26, 2011

A little over thirty years ago I remember walking into a choir class in ninth grade and meeting other students that had a love for singing. It was a new school for me, and so I was eager to make friends and I thought taking that class would be a good way to do that.

Little did I know that that decision changed my eternity, because in that class I met my friend Gail who shared with me about Jesus. She told me how much he loved me, and how he wanted to know me personally. I was HOOKED...

A few weeks after Gail told me about the love of Jesus and how I could know him personally, she was able to smuggle me a bible. I had asked my mom for a bible and she refused to get me one. My friend Gail then brought me one in the school library one morning and that was it...I was head over heels in love with the Word of God. I got up early every day to read my bible and pray, and then I took a passage of scripture I was going to memorize that day with me to school and I told all of my friends.

I didn't know it at the time, but what I was doing was evangelizing. Everywhere I went I was telling someone, ANYONE, pretty much everyone I could about Jesus and what he did. And what I found was that it was amazing how many people already knew this great news, but never told me about it!

I also found that there were people who didn't know about Jesus and they wanted to! That kept me excited and eager to share.

So when I read a story today about Christian persecution and how only about two percent of the population in Pakistan makes up the Christian church, I am THRILLED! According to Mission Network News and their sources the church in Pakistan is strong and PASSIONATE about reaching their country for Jesus Christ! How cool is that!

I think it is completely cool to know that my brothers and sisters in Pakistan love their country enough to go out and share the gospel. It made me wonder, if Christians in America were only two percent of the population, would WE be as passionate to share the good news with our country? I hope so!

America has been truly blessed by the Lord, as we see our wealth, natural resources and of course the thousands of Christian churches across this great land. Now imagine what could happen if the majority of us Christians in America had the passion of the two percent of the church in Pakistan.

Pray today for revival for America and especially that we would not only share the gospel of Christ, but emulate our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ who put their lives on the line doing that which we can do without fear of death.

Yang Caizhen, a Chinese Christian detained for organizing a prayer rally, was released from prison last February. With more than six months left in her sentence, Caizhen was given an early release due to poor health. She had been held at the Shanxi Women’s Prison in Taiyuan City for more than a year.

Relatives who had visited Caizhen said she did not look well. She was missing a front tooth, her hair had become very gray and her hands were swollen. Before her release on medical parole, Caizhen had been taken to the hospital for treatment several times during her imprisonment.

On Nov. 25, 2009, Caizhen was sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor” for organizing a prayer rally on Sept. 14, 2009, with the Linfen Church. The prayer rally was raided by 400 military police, who arrested Caizhen, her husband and three other pastors. They received sentences ranging from two years to seven years in prison.

Although the Linfen Church has 50,000 members, it is one of many unregistered house churches in China. Chinese house churches range in size from a handful of people meeting secretly in a home to large, public churches like Linfen that advertise and meet openly in a large church building. House churches operate independently from the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) churches and are therefore considered illegal. The TSPM is the only officially recognized Protestant church in China, with an estimated 20 million members. In comparison, there are an estimated 80 million to 120 million house church believers in China.

“Please remember [Chinese Christians] in your prayers, and appeal for them!” Caizhen’s daughter, Esther, wrote in a letter. “I call upon everyone to fight for religious freedom in China.” Esther also urges Christians to continue praying for her father and the other church leaders who remain in prison.

May 25, 2011

ISTANBUL, May 25 (CDN) — Seven Algerian churches face closure this week after the governor of their province sent them written notice that they were operating “illegally.”

The notice on Sunday (May 22) from Police Chief Ben Salma, citing a May 8 decree from the Bejaia Province governor, also states that all churches “in all parts of the country” will be closed for lack of compliance with registration regulations, but Christian leaders dismissed this assertion as the provincial official does not have nationwide authority.

“All buildings permanently designated for or in the process of being designated for the practice of religious worship other than Muslim will be permanently closed down in all parts of the country, as well as those not having received the conformity authorization from the National Commission,” Salma stated in the notice.

On Sunday (May 22) the governor of Bejaia sent a statement to the president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) informing him that all churches in the province were illegal because they were unregistered. Registration is required under controversial Ordinance 06-03, but Christians report the government refuses to respond to or grant their applications for registration.